News, research and discussion on virtual goods, currencies and economies globally.

Governance

Power and politics in virtual economies, virtual central banks etc.

Anti-Social Contracts: The Contractual Governance of Online Communities

Author(s): 
Fairfield, Joshua
Year: 
2007
Publication information: 
Working paper
URL: 
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1002997

Real Money Trade Model in Virtual Economies

Author(s): 
Starodoumov, Arseni
Year: 
2005
Publication information: 
Master’s Thesis at Stockholm School of Economics Institute of International Business (IIB)
URL: 
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=958286

Rivalrous Consumption and the Boundaries of Copyright Law: Intellectual Property Lessons from Online Games

Author(s): 
Schwarz, Andrew D. and Bullis, Robert
Year: 
2005
Publication information: 
Intellectual Property Law Bulletin, 2005
URL: 
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=927475

A Quest for the Legal Identity of MMORPGs - From a Computer Game, Back to a Play Association

Author(s): 
Yoon, Ung-gi
Year: 
2005
Publication information: 
Journal of Game Industry & Culture, Vol. 10, Fall 2005
URL: 
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=905748

EULAw: The Complex Web of Corporate Rule-Making in Virtual Worlds

Author(s): 
Andrew Jankowich
Year: 
2006
Publication information: 
8 Tulane Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

Play Between Worlds

Author(s): 
Taylor, T.L.
Year: 
2006
Publication information: 
MIT Press
URL: 
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10770

Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games

Author(s): 
Castronova, Edward
Year: 
2005
Publication information: 
University Of Chicago Press.

Virtual Worlds as Comparative Law

Author(s): 
Grimmelmann, James
Year: 
2004
Publication information: 
47 New York Law School Law Review 147.
URL: 
http://ssrn.com/abstract=707184

Virtual Liberty: Freedom to Design and Freedom to Play in Virtual Worlds

Author(s): 
Balkin, Jack M.
Year: 
2004
Publication information: 
90 Virginia Law Review 2043.
URL: 
http://ssrn.com/abstract=555683

Play of State: Sovereignty and Governance in MMOGs

Author(s): 
Burke, Timothy
Year: 
2004
Publication information: 
Unpublished manuscript
URL: 
http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/tburke1/The%20MMOG%20State.pdf